Seeing With Tunnel Vision Video

In this medical video learn how these glasses could drastically improve how people with tunnel vision see the world.Read the full transcript »

Jennifer Matthews: It looks like a video game, but this screen and these glasses are changing the way Cory MacDonald sees the world. At age four, he was diagnosed with choroideremia, a disease that causes tunnel vision. Cory MacDonald: Out of a possible 180 degrees of visual field that a person can have, I have about three. Jennifer Matthews: Harvard Doctor, Eli Peli, says one in 200 people have tunnel vision, which makes finding nearly everything a daunting task. Dr. Eli Peli: It's amazing how many times you search for things in your environment; where did I put that key? Where did I put those glasses? Where did I put the cup? It is something that we do every day. Jennifer Matthews: Now, these glasses could change everything. A camera minifies the world to maximize the visual field. Details are then displayed on a screen on the lens so patients can read things like road signs. Dr. Eli Peli: With this device, you get an overall view in which you can identify the thing you want, and then go to it and then get the details on it. Jennifer Matthews: Without the glasses, Cory misses images that pop up on the screen. With the glasses, he sees nearly all of them. In another test, he searches endlessly for a paperweight. Put the glasses on and he finds it easily. Cory MacDonald: I would wear them anytime I left my house and probably many times inside my house. Jennifer Matthews: Cory relies on his cane right now but hopes the glasses will soon be ready for public use. Cory MacDonald: These glasses are very exciting to me. Jennifer Matthews: This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.

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